A Showcase Magazine Feature: http://www.trentu.ca/showcase/

From the prevention of poaching in northern Ontario to the preservation of habitats off the coasts of Taiwan and Hong Kong, Biology Professor Dr. Brad White uses cutting-edge DNA technology to bring about change at home and abroad.

For Professor White, director of Trent University’s Natural Resources DNA Profiling and Forensic Centre, the work has always been about results.

Dolphins Protected, Thanks to Trent

Based at Trent’s Life and Health Sciences Building, the lab has been involved in the study and protection of species across the globe, most notably in its ongoing work with the iconic Indo-Pacific Humpback or “Pink” Dolphin, first discovered by Trent’s Dr. John Wang in 2002 in the Taiwan Strait. It was thanks to Prof. White and his research team that the dolphins were declared “critically endangered” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2008, giving them special protection and leading to international attention for Trent.

Lauren Dares, an Environmental and Life Sciences M.Sc. student was drawn to Trent because of its focus on conservation issues. Ms. Dares is one of several students to do field-based work with the rare dolphin. For Ms. Dares, gathering field data is essential to her thesis, but the experience was more than purely academic, noting that her favourite part of the fieldwork was having the opportunity to observe wild dolphins in their natural habitat.

Trent alumna Dr. Linda Rutledge came to Trent to study under Prof. White. “People who come here for genetics get the finest training,” states Dr. Rutledge unequivocally. “I’ve worked in other labs and I have no qualms about saying that the facilities and the faculty that we have here are world-class. We are spoiled with the equipment and infrastructure we have here, not to mention the tremendous intellectual resources.” Dr. Rutledge also cites Trent’s close ties with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) as setting Trent apart. “I couldn’t have done my research at any other place,” she concludes. “Only Trent has that connection.”

Students Connect to Government Jobs through Science

“The presence of workers from the OMNR has been an incredible benefit,” adds Prof. White. “Many scientists supervise Trent graduates, and undergraduates often get summer jobs working with them. There are very few places in Canada where you get this close working relationship between a government agency and a university in the same building.”

Goat Research to Benefit Humans

Now the lab has turned its attention to small ruminants research aimed at benefiting humans. Local dairy farmers Lloyd and Barbara Wicks of Grasshill Farm first became interested in Saanen dairy goats after they realized their special properties including high milk production and a tendency to multiple births. Trent was successful in securing multipartner grants totalling $100,000 from the Centre of Excellence in Goat Research and Innovation, the Canadian Livestock Genetics Association and a collaboration of regional Saanen goat farmers to pursue research on the animals.

Field research has begun in Trinidad, where a satellite herd of Grasshill Farm goats is being closely monitored by high-tech equipment that tracks feed, milk output, animal health and birthing records, and sends the resulting data back to the lab at Trent to be compared with their genetics by Prof. White and his team.

“The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that goats are a highly important source of proteins for rural families in developing countries,” explains Prof. White. “We will be one of the first labs in the world to compile data on goat genetics that can be cross-referenced to productivity, feed regimens and health. In the long run, we see a fantastic opportunity for our local producers to export their goatherd genetics to developing countries.”